Sunday, June 24, 2012

Way back on May 26 we had Luke's end of the season ball party. As you can see it was a swim party, which makes me a nervous-wreck. A good time was had by all...despite my nervous pacing!

This little boy also decided to start swimming! Don't know why, but somewhere in the back of his memory, the failed attempts at swim lessons from years past decided to surface and we had success at swimming and he was like a little fish...and his mother breathed a HUGE sigh of relief!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

After our late night the night before, we were up bright and early at the cruel hour of 4:30 a.m. to be packed and have the buses loaded for our final day in D.C. Our fist stop was the Capital building.

We made the hike up Capital Hill, and made our way through mega security checks. Then we met our senator, Robert Aderholt. He took us to the floor of Congress, where he explained the whole voting process for bills and answered questions. No cameras were allowed in there.

Freedom

Shaylan, Izzy, Kaylyn

The painting in the ceiling of the Rotunda

Part of the painting around the Rotunda

In the Statutory Room. Ronald Reagan's Statue. The darker band under the statue is part of the Berlin Wall.

After our tour of the Capital Building, we had about 5 hours to tour the Smithsonian Museums before it was time to head for the airport. We bolted through the Natural History and the American History Museum at warp speed.

We had to stop here to say "Roll Tide!"

The Hope Diamond

Marie Antoinette's jewelery

An Egyptian Mummy

After the Natural History Museum, we trotted over to the American History Museum.

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A few of the first lady's inaugural gowns:

Jackie Kennedy

Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush

Hillary Clinton

Laura Bush

Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama's Jimmy Choo's

The first Dumbo Ride

The Scarecrow's attire from The Wizard of Oz

Dorothy's slipper's

George Washington's chair

Abe Lincoln's hat

Dwight Eisenhower's golf clubs

Ronald Reagan's campaign

The first apple computer

Apolo Ohno's skates

Archie Bunker's chair

John Lennon's jacket

The original Kermit the Frog

Ali's gloves

After 4 exhausting days jam-packed full of adventure it was time to return home.